All across the country, the critical services of child advocacy centers help keep the children in our communities safe. The team members are always passionate about their work. But there’s no denying that the days can be challenging. Fortunately, a user-friendly recording solution can help ease that stress whenever it comes time to gather their forensic interview evidence.
Meet the Sylvia’s Child Advocacy Center
Sylvia’s CAC serves Boone County, Indiana and provides children with a safe and comfortable place to share the facts and details of a suspected abuse or maltreatment scenario. More specifically, the Executive Director of Sylvia’s CAC, Kassie Frazier, emphasizes that the center exists to help children avoid the trauma of talking about an abuse scenario multiple times.
In order to accomplish that, the team needs an interview recording system that will document every word and every body language cue that the child is giving throughout their conversation. Making the decision to work with iRecord’s audio video equipment and software solutions has allowed them to do just that.
Discrete Recording Equipment for a Child-Friendly Environment
Danielle Allen is a forensic interviewer at Sylvia’s CAC, and she says that her interaction with iRecord has been incredibly simple.
“When I have a child sitting with me, the first thing I do is I go over the room with them and explain to them that there are cameras. And I point to the cameras here and there,” said Allen. “Then I tell them, ‘The microphone is right here and it just looks like a little switch on the wall.”
Usually, a child will end up saying, “Those are cameras? That doesn’t look like a camera!” And that’s exactly the type of response any forensic interviewer would want. No child should feel intimidated during their interview.
Because the center is intentionally designed to be child-friendly, the team knew that their interview recording equipment should be as discreet as possible. That’s why iRecord’s cameras and microphones were developed to blend into a room. More importantly, the equipment gives the team consistent, high-quality video and audio.
“It picks up on everything, even when they’re talking very quietly,” said Allen.
Simple Technology from Start to Finish
Kristi M. Reynolds, the Director of Trauma Services, reiterates the dependable nature of their recording solution and its ease-of-use. Because working with iRecord is so intuitive, they’re able to start and stop every recording without any confusion or problems.
“I click ‘record,’ and it goes,” said Reynolds. “I can’t imagine any other system that would be as efficient as this one.”
Everyone on the team has been thrilled with how easy it’s been to navigate iRecord, and that they can gather audio video interview recordings that are always accurate.
“Having that reliable system and me not having to worry about the technology portion of it has been amazing because it’s just one less thing I have to worry about when my focus is on the child,” said Allen.
Adopting a new recording solution shouldn’t be daunting. When it’s designed correctly, all of the features are intuitive to use. Plus, child advocacy centers can have peace of mind that there won’t be any risks of having poor-quality recordings.
“It’s been fantastic, we absolutely love having it and using it,” said Frazier. “It captures everything we want.”
Help Every Case Reach a Faster Resolution
With iRecord, Sylvia’s CAC has a recording solution that truly works to create a more streamlined process for their caseload. Its software features also give the team an even better way to return to their interview evidence recordings and review the content ASAP.
“I would say the coolest feature of iRecord is having the transcription capability—and it is immediate,” said Reynolds. “We have DCS caseworkers coming from other counties, to our agency, specifically so that they have that immediate transcription of what the child has said.”
iRecord’s technology partner VidaNyx works to provide clear transcriptions. With that, the comprehensive Cloud Solution also allows team members and every party involved in a case to receive the CAC’s interview evidence as soon as it’s uploaded to the online portal. Then everyone can reference it immediately, no matter where they are.
“This system is very easy, when we have to download onto a zip drive, it downloads immediately and then we can put it up in the Cloud” said Frazier.
Now, it’s faster than ever to quickly document the child’s testimony and get that interview evidence submitted to the court.
“These cases can take a year, two years, three years—being able to see how young and vulnerable that child was immediately after it happened is really essential to the case,” said Reynolds. “It’s basically sped up how quickly we can get perpetrators arrested.”
Ensuring Every Child Has a Voice—with iRecord
With so much on the line for accurate interview evidence, no CAC should have to deal with the added pressures of complicated recording technology, let alone audio video systems that aren’t reliable. That’s why Sylvia’s Child Advocacy Center made the decision to partner with iRecord.
Perhaps what matters most, though, is that iRecord’s solutions give the CAC team the right tools to ensure that every child’s voice and story will be heard.
“Without Sylvia’s CAC, without the ability to record their testimony, without the ability to gather questions and evidence from what has happened to them, we can’t prosecute perpetrators,” said Reynolds. “All of these pieces together are essential to stopping child abuse in our community.”
During each forensic interview, DCS and law enforcement are able to sit in another room and follow along with the conversation. They can see and hear the entire conversation in real time, as it happens. And since the recordings themselves are securely stored with iRecord’s Cloud Solution, they’ll always be able to access the same evidence to help bring the truth to light.
“I couldn’t imagine not having iRecord,” said Allen.
Every CAC needs to have the ability to efficiently gather testimonials and share those details with prosecutors and other public safety and child advocacy professionals. Sylvia’s CAC continues to have great success with iRecord, and they’re looking forward to being able to utilize the resources and solutions for years to come.
iRecord is proud to partner with child advocacy centers across the country. Their service offerings include interview room design work, audio video equipment installation, intuitive software for notes and redactions, as well as Cloud storage solutions that give every agency and professional working on a case access to that digital evidence online. If your center is ready to learn more, please don’t hesitate to contact iRecord at (800) 425-7637 or visit www.irecord.tv.